UCLA in the News lists selected mentions of UCLA in the world’s news media. Some articles may require registration or a subscription. See more UCLA in the News.

High heat driving Colorado droughts even when it rains | Colorado Sun

Climate change has made Western air so hot that drought will threaten the region even in years of decent snow and rainfall, according to a new study by UCLA and NOAA scientists detailing the scary new normal of warmer global temperatures … “Even if precipitation looks normal, we can still have drought because moisture demand has increased so much, and there simply isn’t enough water to keep up with that increased demand,” said Rong Fu, a UCLA professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences and a study co-author.

What a new Trump era could mean for environmental goals | KCRW 89.9-FM

UCLA environmental law expert Ann Carlson said the new Trump administration is expected to target California’s transportation regulations. “The real area where the Trump administration has the most power over California is in regulating emissions from the transportation sector, from cars and trucks,” [said Carlson.]

Groups seek a new hearing on mail-in ballot lawsuit | Associated Press

Richard Hasen, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, wrote on his election law blog that the ruling by the appeals court panel was a “bonkers opinion” and noted that “every other court to face these cases has rejected this argument.”

L.A. County board will nearly double in size | Los Angeles Times

“This will be the most powerful elected local government official in the state of California,” said Yaroslavsky, director of the Los Angeles Initiative at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. “I think they would be engaging in political malpractice if they didn’t look at it, but they won’t be the only ones.”

The serious downside to being a firstborn or only child | BuzzFeed

Molly Fox, a biological anthropologist at UCLA, explained that the degree of difference this entails is likely even greater in today’s world than in the past. “In the pre-Industrial context, the context present for the majority of human history, you would be exposed to parenting and kids your whole life. You would be more involved in caring for your younger siblings,” Fox said. Whereas, lacking this experience, today’s first-time parents, often ridden with anxiety, face a steep learning curve.

The downtown business exodus | KCRW 89.9-FM’s “Press Play”

About one-third of downtown L.A.’s office space sits empty, says [UCLA Anderson lecturer] Paul Habibi. He chalks up the high vacancy rate to remote and hybrid work, which reduces the need for an office footprint. Meanwhile, he points to crime and homelessness exacerbating the issue. 

Progress toward a nuclear clock | Washington Post

One big problem was that scientists had to find the exact frequency of light to trigger the pulse. That meant they would need to bombard thorium atoms with different frequencies of laser light over and over again, like creating and trying hundreds of thousands of keys to see which one unlocks the door. It was “a needle-in-a-briar-patch problem,” said Eric Hudson, a physicist at the University of California, Los Angeles.